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Our country is polarized, that much is obvious. As bills struggle to make their way through Congress, gridlock reigns supreme. The result: our big issues remain unresolved, discontent runs high amongst the general public, and the Democrats and Republicans continue to point fingers rather than propose viable solutions.
It’s almost a foregone conclusion that the 118th Congress will go down as one of the least productive in history. But this inefficiency has plagued our elected officials for the last several Congresses.
Republicans and Democrats have wildly different conceptions of what America is and where America is going. Think about the oscillations our country experienced following Barack Obama’s departure from the White House. Four years of Donald Trump followed up by four years of Joe Biden. Now, we’re gearing up for an additional four years of Donald Trump.
Back and forth the pendulum swings.
The little progress made by one administration was almost immediately undone by the incoming opposition party.
It’s easy to fixate on our problems at home. They directly affect our everyday lives. But while the United States has been focused on partisan warfare we’ve been neglecting geopolitics and global trade. While these ramifications may not be obvious in the short term, they’re almost certain to have lasting repercussions for long term stability and prosperity.
Our two political parties can’t agree on anything. Basic Congressional functions like passing a budget are arduous endeavors. Members of Congress have learned that they gain more from performing political theater than from getting anything done. And so the charade continues, absent real conversations regarding real world solutions.
The four years of President Donald Trump injected a protectionist ethos into the GOP. This view discounts the win-win that comes from global trade and relations. This kind of skepticism or downright hostility towards our global neighbors negatively affected the relationships in our very own backyard. And while the Biden administration sought to undo some of the damage, the effects are difficult to remedy.
So while Congress deals with petty infighting and gridlock, America is failing herself, her position in the world, and her credibility amongst other states.
In our own hemisphere, Latin America is the shining example of this negligence. For these countries (Peru, Ecuador, Chile, etc.), close ties with Washington are mutually beneficial. In 2000, the United States was the overwhelming dominant trading partner in the region, by total value of goods traded. Not only does this bolster these countries' economies, but this also means that it encourages US-led investment and backing on the international stage. This allows for developing countries to develop and increases their overall standard of living.
For the United States, free trade with these areas benefited American consumers while these partners grew and developed themselves. We all benefitted from growth and improved prosperity throughout the Western-hemisphere.
In other words, this situation was a win-win.
But as the United States has struggled to determine what our role on the international stage would be, global competitors like China have filled the sizable gap left by our own negligence. Our inability to govern effectively and efficiently created openings that America’s competitors are now exploiting.
As China attempts to further cement its status as a global force, it has focused its efforts on developing close partnerships with the Global South. In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks to pour massive amounts of Chinese infrastructure investment into developing countries in the Global South. From the China-Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan (CKU) railway in Central Asia, to a strategic deep-water port in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa, Beijing is committed to extending its influence into areas that the United States currently has little to no interest.
Meanwhile, other US competitors are deepening their economic ties, through the creation of BRICS – consisting of Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Iran, Russian Federation, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates. The goal of this partnership is clear - to usurp the U.S. dollar from its position of global trading dominance.
If this seems like fear mongering, consider that Brazilian President Lulu explicitly stated, “Every night, I ask myself why all countries have to base their trade on the dollar.”
These developments aren’t necessarily new. Competing nations naturally vie with each other for economic influence around the globe. From the colonial “Scramble for Africa” to the exportation of Marxist ideologies to places like South Africa during the Cold War, influence and power are the currency of international relations.
However, the concern over these movements stems from the fact that the current state of US politics is completely uninterested in dealing with these challenges. Indeed, with four more years of President Trump incoming, the willingness to leverage tariffs on potential trading partners is concerning. The American political economist Henry George once said, “What protection teaches us, is to do to ourselves in time of peace what enemies seek to do to us in time of war.”
Trump seeks to trade win-win relationships with lose-lose ones.
The post-Cold War international system is one that was built by the United States based on principles of free trade and individual liberty. But the United States appears to be more than willing to abandon these principles for political gain and short-term economic growth.
And the emergence of Chinese investment in the United States’ own backyard is a staunch reminder that dysfunction domestically is almost certain to lead to dysfunction on the international system.
